Giants Claim Mario Edwards
The Giants have claimed DE Mario Edwards off waivers from the Raiders, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (via Twitter). The Raiders had been shopping Edwards, whom they selected in the second round of the 2015 draft, but they could not find any takers. Edwards has not lived up to his draft status yet, but he will get a fresh start in the Big Apple.
Edwards entered the league very young as a 21-year-old rookie and missed most of his second season with a hip injury. Edwards bounced back a bit last year, as he started in each of his 14 appearances and set a new career high with 3.5 sacks. However, he never impressed new Oakland head coach Jon Gruden, and the team was reportedly frustrated with him.
In New York, Edwards will certainly have a chance to show off the pass rushing ability that made him a second-round draft choice, as rookie B.J. Hill and second-year player Dalvin Tomlinson are currently penciled in as the team’s starting defensive ends.
In addition to Edwards, the Giants have also claimed the following players, per Albert Breer of TheMMQB (via Twitter):
- WR Kaelin Clay
- DB Antonio Hamilton
- DB Michael Jordan
- DB Kamrin Moore
- C Spencer Pulley
Contract Details: OBJ, Mason, Bengals
We have already learned a fair amount about the details of Odell Beckham Jr.‘s new mega-deal with the Giants, but Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv passes along some important information about OBJ’s cap hits. While his contract will provide New York with $3MM of cap relief in 2018, Beckham’s cap number balloons to $21MM in 2019 and will be between $15MM and $19.75MM from 2020 to 2023.
In 2019, then, the Giants could be devoting half of their cap space to just five players, and they are projected to have just $12MM in cap room in 2019 at the moment. That number will increase with several easy cuts and restructures, but Beckham’s contract will force the club to make a few difficult decisions, which Vacchiano explores in greater detail.
Now let’s take a look at a few more notes on recently-signed contracts:
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports that Shaq Mason‘s extension with the Patriots includes $45MM in new money, a $12MM signing bonus, and $5MM in incentives. He also provides a breakdown of Mason’s guarantees, base salaries, and cap numbers (Twitter links).
- Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Geno Atkins‘ extension with the Bengals includes a $13MM signing bonus, which is part of $17MM in guaranteed money. Atkins is also eligible for up to $500K per year in per game active bonuses and workout bonuses. Carlos Dunlap‘s new deal with Cincinnati, meanwhile, features $18MM in guarantees and several sacks escalators. Owczarski also provides the base salaries for both players.
- Greg Mancz‘s two-year extension with the Texans, which kicks in after the 2018 season, is worth $6MM in total, per NFL insider Adam Caplan (via Twitter).
Giants Open To Trading Kyle Lauletta or Davis Webb
The Giants still have four quarterbacks after trimming their roster to 53 players yesterday, but the team will obviously not go into Week 1 with four signal-callers. As Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com reports, Big Blue is open to dealing either Davis Webb or Kyle Lauletta.
The Giants selected Webb in the third round of the 2017 draft, but new head coach Pat Shurmur and new GM Dave Gettleman do not have any ties to the California product. They do have ties to Lauletta, who was selected in the fourth round of this year’s draft, so it would certainly be surprising if they chose to trade the former Richmond QB.
Nonetheless, it was Lauletta, and not Webb, who played in the team’s final preseason game, so the Giants could have been preserving Webb as a trade chip, they could have been showcasing Lauletta to bolster his trade value, or both. If New York is able to find a taker for either young QB, 30-year-old Alex Tanney would likely remain as the team’s No. 3 QB, as Shurmur prefers to keep three quarterbacks on his roster.
Of course the Giants could elect to keep both Webb and Lauletta and continue to groom them for the future while cutting Tanney in favor of a player at a position of need like cornerback or defensive line.
Giants Lock In 53-Man Roster
The Giants will head into the 2018 season without one of their longest-tenured players and one of their 2017 starting safeties, with both Mark Herzlich and Darian Thompson failing to make the team.
A 2017 fifth-round pick, edge defender Avery Moss missed out as well. As did Roger Lewis, a wideout who became needed when the Giants became decimated at receiver last season.
The Giants also released recently signed cornerback Leonard Johnson, who was trying to make a fifth NFL franchise’s 53-man roster. The former Buccaneer, Patriot, Panther and Bill started seven games with Buffalo last season.
Here’s the full list of Giants cuts:
Released:
Waived:
- DB Andrew Adams
- OL Malcolm Bunche
- WR Marquis Bundy
- DL Tyrell Chavis
- WR Jawill Davis
- TE Garrett Dickerson
- WR Amba Etta-Tawo
- DL A.J. Francis
- DB Grant Haley
- LB Mike Jones
- OL Zac Kerin
- K Marshall Koehn
- DB Warren Long
- DL Izaah Lunsford
- LB Calvin Munson
- TE Ryan O’Malley
- RB Jhurrell Pressley
- WR Kalif Raymond
- WR Alonzo Russell
- WR Travis Rudolph
- OL Victor Salako
- RB Jalen Simmons
- DB Orion Stewart
- DL Robert Thomas
Waived with an injury designation
Placed on IR:
- OL Nick Becton
- OL Nick Gates
Placed on Reserve/NFI list:
- DL R.J. McIntosh
Suspended:
- DL Josh Mauro
Giants To Waive S Darian Thompson
A starter in all 16 of the Giants’ 2017 games, Darian Thompson won’t be part of the 2018 edition. The Giants will waive the 2016 third-round pick, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv reports (on Twitter).
The Giants will waive Thompson with an injury designation, per Vacchiano, who notes the hamstring injury Thompson’s dealt with all summer affected this move. Thompson will revert to Big Blue’s IR if he clears waivers.
Thompson graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 66 full-time safety last season. he made 75 tackles and intercepted a pass last season.
Two years remain on his rookie contract. The Giants added Michael Thomas and Curtis Riley as UFAs this year.
Giants Release LB Mark Herzlich
The Giants are moving on from one of their longest-tenured players. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com reports that the organization is releasing linebacker Mark Herzlich.
The 31-year-old joined the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Boston College back in 2011, and he’s spent the past eight seasons with the organization. Serving mostly as a backup linebacker and special teamer, Herzlich has managed to put up some solid numbers throughout his career, including a 52-tackle campaign back in 2014.
However, the veteran spent the entire 2017 campaign on the injured reserve. During his last healthy season in 2016, he saw a reduced role, compiling only seven tackles in 14 games. It’s uncertain if another team will be willing to take a gamble on the linebacker at this stage of his career.
With the move, the Giants now have only three inside linebackers on their roster: B.J. Goodson, Alec Ogletree, and Ray-Ray Armstrong.
Latest On Odell Beckham Jr. Deal
The Giants and their top player agreed to a contract extension through 2023. More details on that agreement emerged Wednesday. It may not be as player-friendly as initially advertised, and despite the overall package making the Giants weapon the highest-paid wideout, the early-years cash flow doesn’t place Beckham in front of his top peers.
Odell Beckham Jr. will collect $52.71MM over the first three years of this deal, with Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk adding it amounts to a six-year, $98.459MM deal when considering Beckham’s 2018 fifth-year option season and it tying him to the Giants for five subsequent years. The 25-year-old wideout will collect a $20MM signing bonus that will be fully paid out by February 2019, per Florio.
The first two base salaries on this deal — 2018’s $1.459MM and 2019’s $16.75MM — are fully guaranteed, and Florio adds $12.75MM of Beckham’s $14MM 2020 base is guaranteed for injury and becomes fully guaranteed on Day 3 of the ’20 league year. The same structure is present for the 2021 season; $12.79MM of that base salary guaranteed for injury and all $14.5MM becomes fully guaranteed on Day 3 of the ’21 league year. Beckham’s 2022 and ’23 bases ($13.75MM apiece) are not guaranteed.
Interestingly, the Pro Bowler has $3MM tied to training camp showings in the final three years of the deal. Beckham will receive $1MM if he shows up on Day 1 of training camp from 2021-23, illustrating the Giants are preparing for a possible future holdout if a late-20s version of Beckham decides the future wideout market has made him underpaid. Of course, $1MM penalties might not deter Beckham from a holdout in the event he decides to take that course of action down the road.
Beckham’s $52.71MM over the deal’s first three years is more than $7MM less than initially reported, Florio notes. It appears Mike Evans‘ $55MM over the first three years remains the wide receiver standard. Both Evans and Antonio Brown‘s four-year payments ($68MM) match Beckham’s, leading Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap to be underwhelmed by this agreement for a wide receiver who’s not being paid considerably more than Sammy Watkins. Beckham’s three-year haul is barely half of what Aaron Rodgers will receive in that span ($103MM), Albert Breer of SI.com tweets.
As for OBJ’s incentives, they’re all tied to his 2022 and ’23 seasons. Florio notes he can earn $2.5MM each season based on meeting certain specified statistical benchmarks. These figures, ones that will be tied to Beckham’s production when Eli Manning‘s successor is likely throwing passes, may become moot if Beckham and the Giants agree to a future extension, however.
Brett Jones Pick Was Conditional
- The pick the Vikings traded to the Giants for center Brett Jones is conditional, according to longtime NFL writer Howard Balzer (Twitter link). The pick, a 2019 seventh-rounder, was previously reported to be guaranteed.
Beckham Deal Has Incentives In Last Two Years
- One final note on Odell Beckham Jr.’s record deal with the Giants, the base value is actually only $90MM not $95MM according to Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). The deal contains $5MM in incentives in the final two years of the deal that could push the total value to $95MM.
Giants, OBJ Agree To Extension
The Giants and star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr are closing in on a five-year mega-extension, according to Ian Rapoport and Kim Jones of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a five-year extension worth up to $95MM with $65MM guaranteed overall, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The value of Beckham’s new deal is $90MM over the five added years, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. That’s $18MM per year in new money – or $19MM/year, if counting the potential incentives. Either way, it’s the highest average annual value for any receiver in the NFL. Beckham also gets $41MM fully guaranteed at signing, plus another $24MM in injury guarantees for a total of $65MM in guarantees.
The deal is a big win for Beckham across the board, as he leads wide receivers in AAV, total guarantees, and full guarantees at signing. Previously, Antonio Brown‘s $17MM per year represented the annual standard for receivers, and Mike Evans‘ $55MM in total guarantees and $38.25MM in full guarantees were the statistical chart-toppers.
In terms of the average annual value on the “new money,” OBJ is now the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. He’ll also collect about $60MM within the first three years of the deal.
The two sides have wrestled over the extension for some time. Although OBJ is one of the most talented receivers in the game, he missed the majority of the 2017 season with injury and the Giants had concerns about his maturity. This offseason, Beckham flirted with the idea of a training camp holdout, but ultimately showed up for work and impressed team brass.
“I see what I expected to see when we started to communicate back in February,” Shurmur said in February. “This guy loves to play football, he trains extremely hard, he’s totally engaged in the meetings behind the scenes, the things that the world is not aware of, and he’s got a lot of passion for the game. We were just out in a walk-through and I saw three or four times when he was talking to different players about certain techniques within the play. That’s all good stuff.”
The 2014 first-round pick was limited to only four games last season and finished with just 25 receptions for 302 yards and three scores. However, he finished the previous three campaigns with at least 1,300 receiving yards.
At 25 (26 in November), Beckham is four years younger than Brown, and he’s outproduced the other members of his class on a per-year basis. The Giants paid a pretty penny to lock up the three-time Pro Bowler through 2023, but it will be worthwhile if he plays up to his ability.